Woman accused of stealing San Diego police cruiser, leading officers on chase pleads not guilty

A young woman accused of stealing a San Diego police cruiser, then leading authorities on a freeway chase that ended at a rest stop north of Oceanside, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a half-dozen felony charges, including theft of an emergency vehic

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Felicitas Flores at her arraignment in San Diego County Superior Court on Aug. 20, 2014. Flores is accused of stealing a San Diego police cruiser and leading officers on a freeway chase that ended north of Oceanside on Aug. 15. (10News)

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAN DIEGO - A young woman accused of stealing a San Diego police cruiser, then leading authorities on a freeway chase that ended at a rest stop north of Oceanside, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a half-dozen felony charges, including theft of an emergency vehicle and evading arrest.

Felicitas Flores, 22, was ordered held on $275,500 bail.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon told Judge Jay Bloom that Flores got into an unattended San Diego police cruiser near 17th and K streets in the East Village area of downtown about 11:30 p.m. Friday and drove off.

Runyon said authorities pursued Flores on northbound Interstate 5, sometimes at high speeds, before laying out spike strips north of Carlsbad.

Flores kept driving to a rest stop north of Oceanside, where she was boxed in by emergency vehicles, Runyon said.

As she tried to back up, the defendant sideswiped a California Highway Patrol vehicle with two officers inside, but neither was hurt, according to the prosecutor.

Another officer was out of his San Diego police car as Flores drove forward and rammed his patrol vehicle, Runyon alleged.

Flores -- a documented gang member -- was on community supervision after serving time in prison, the prosecutor said.

In addition to theft of a police vehicle and felony evading, Flores is charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

She faces about 15 years in prison if convicted.

Flores' mother said her daughter is mentally ill and needs help, having been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at age 16.

"She's not in her right mind, she's not thinking right," Annebell Flores said of her daughter. "She sees things out in the street and yeah, she's going to get curious and do things. Still, she's not in her right mind. She's mentally ill. She doesn't belong on the streets. I've been trying to tell these people helping her that she needs to be in a facility where they can watch her 24 hours a day and give her medication."

The defendant will be back in court Aug. 29 for a readiness conference and Sept. 3 for a preliminary hearing.

Copyright 2014 Scripps Media, Inc. City News Service contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.